Of the two volumes, A Sahib's War and Other Stories and Friendly Brook and Other Stories, Professor Rutherford, who selected the contents of both volumes, writes: 'There are fewer tales of Empire than the popular stereotype of Kipling might lead readers to expect....Increasingly he was preoccupied by the condition of England herself, as he rebuked her blindness, folly and complacency, and sought reassurance in groups, types, or individuals who might still redeem her backslidings.